It’s Milan Time – Andiamo tutti a Salone!

Things are almost the way they should be, the holiday season is coming, we can travel again and the exhibitions are back on. This time we visited Milan’s, Salone di Mobile. A special edition because it was 60 years ago that this iconic event opened its doors for the first time. We were at the post-covid edition last year in September where only 2 halls were open but now we could enjoy all halls and also a plethora of venues in the city itself. The theme of the fair was for obvious reasons the 60th anniversary of the fair and many black and white images of fantastically fashionable people visiting the show appeared online and at the show itself. It was not just a timeline with nice furniture, it was a homage to Italian fashion and cultural development.

No straight sofas were to be found. It seemed every furniture brand stuck to the credo of rounded and organic and there was a wide range of furniture focused on comfort and softness. Boucle was still the star of the show, having pushed velour to the exit, this vintage fabric appeared in a rainbow of colors, not just the off-white it started with. Orange, brown and beige were the obvious go-to colors of many designers and light blue accents made a refreshing alternative for those who craved a bit less warmth and earthiness.

A strong focus on Multifunctionality as brands from high to low are figuring out how to add more options in 1 item. Be it to save space, add value to a product, make life more comfortable or just for the fun of it, armrest tables, lamps, storage and even bookcases were merged with seats and sofas. Even a bit of Meta could also be found in this context. A lot of research is done to include more technical functions into furniture. A chair could become an immersive object, not just for sitting but for anti-stress therapy or other enjoyable pastimes. In the past we saw many attempts to make kitchens and homes smarter, often failing due to the varying rates of development time tech and furniture components need and the different lifespans (furniture is used much longer than a smartphone for example – so you would end up with an outdated tech function). It appears that these differences are less pronounced at the moment and a new generation of friendly furniture is being born.